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How Jesus Saved Me, is Saving Me, and Will Save Me
I was raised in a Christian home, and since I was born I’ve gone to church every Sunday almost without fail. By the time I was six years old I had already developed a deep love for the God of the Bible. This God loves the whole world, heals the sick, feeds the hungry, wields complete control, brings justice, and has compassion. I don’t know how much of this I understood at such a young age, but God was my hero. No one could compare to Him. One day my mother set down with me on our front porch and told me that my sin hurt God and separated me…
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Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
Those of you who know me well are acquainted with two of the deepest passions in my life: music and Christianity. Because of this love, I am often hard on both—especially when they are found together. I want so much more for them than what they often are now, though I’ll be the first to claim I haven’t got it all together myself. I’ll spare you all my thoughts on worship music at this time. Instead I invite you to ponder with me a problem I hadn’t thought of before: the problem of God’s love in our worship. It would be nothing new to simply say our worship music is…
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Gifts Like White Elephants
We think of Christmas as a time to give gifts, and the marketplace rejoices. I admit I have been too hard on them in recent years; they are just responding to us, same as they always have, same as they always will. Instead, let us turn our gaze inward, fellow gift-givers. Have you ever noticed how much we give and how little we sacrifice? We don’t just give gifts, we trade them. And we feel terrible if we get something and don’t reciprocate—even worse if we give something and get nothing in return. Granted, we will gladly give to someone who has legitimate need without expecting something in return. Children…
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This Christmas is Different
Those of you who have seen me over successive Christmases know I can be a little testy this time of year. I always struggle to get in the mood for whatever reason. I think, “why do we celebrate this? Why don’t we make a bigger deal the rest of the year?” I look at all the consumerism and say, “what gives?” Well this year is different—this Christmas is different. Why? I think much of the credit goes to my classes at DTS. Perhaps not everyone is easily inspired by theological discussions, but as I sit here I am so much more amazed at the thought that Jesus would become human.…
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Of Being and Becoming
I’d like to offer a new term for popular consideration: snactification. The general idea is improving your life through snackage, but there is room for tweaking. What do you think? I think the idea has merit. But in all seriousness, today’s topic is not snactification but sanctification, the process of becoming in the Christian life. Depending on which denomination you come from, you may disagree on what this process looks like, where it’s taking you, or whether it exists at all. The first question I’d like to ask is what are you becoming? What’s the goal in the Christian life? I would think this would be the easy one: it’s…